|
| Images of Africa |
|
| by John Walker | ||
Back to Images of Africa
Monster (full resolution) image (186 kb)
The evening of our arrival at Vumbura Camp we went on our first "wildlife drive". This amounts to boarding small boats at the camp (on an island in the river delta, now returning to its normal winter state after 11 years of drought) which ferry us to open Land Rovers in which we then ramble over the countryside looking for animals. There is a tremendous amount of bouncing about, fording flooded areas between islands in the delta, and, after sunset, keeping one's eyes peeled for the glint of eyeshine as the "spotter," who sits on a seat above the front tyre of the vehicle, sweeps a spotlight back and forth.Here's something you don't see every day--a lioness (Panthera leo) who's recently killed this Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) watching her cubs chow down! There were three lionesses and a total of eight cubs at this kill: lionesses hunt together...clever girl...and share their kills. After making a kill, the lioness will usually allow the cubs to eat their fill before feeding herself. A buffalo can be several days' food for a number of lions.